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09
Feb 09

Seems lately all I do are weekend updates

I blame school.

Had a more active weekend than the last. Friday night I had dinner with YP and some of our former co-workers. We went to Tillman’s, which was really nice – beautiful atmosphere, nice music, yummy food and drinks. It was freezing that night so I had a hot toddy, and for dinner I had the chicken sandwich. Yum!

It was fun catching up with the gals. I got some gossip about my old boss. I think I’ve written that he was demoted (’bout time), and somehow he found himself a new position on a different team. Apparently he’s traveling to London soon, and is being extremely neurotic about it. Poor LG, who was his secretary and is now just helping him out till he gets a new one, has suffered the brunt of it.

He’s afraid to fly and so changed his flight a couple of times (once because he thought the plane was too old), and keeps asking LG questions like, “How do I get to my hotel from the airport? What if I only have American money?” Dude, you’re going to LONDON, not the Amazon rainforest. And it’s not like he hasn’t traveled before.

Also, I heard some dirt about another former co-worker, who was a secretary at the same time I was and interested in moving up the way I did – well, she was interested in moving up, but much more passively. The way I did it assess what needed to be done that nobody wanted to do, and just go ahead and take over those “orphaned” projects, which were usually lower profile and less “sexy” anyway, but I didn’t care. She just kept asking managers for work, and they would end up giving her the work I was already doing (and which I had cleared with my boss, who was the head of the whole group). There was a lot of stepping on toes.

I got promoted before she did, but she never asked me for advice. She’d go to her own managers, which was fine, but they didn’t know anything about how to make that jump from secretar to manager. Or she’d go to WG, who was the budget coordinator and my pal, and who kept saying, “Why don’t you talk to Anna?” since I was on the exact career trajectory that she wanted to be on. But she never did.

She just couldn’t get promoted, despite having her MBA. So she left for a managerial position at another company. I was genuinely happy for her. But now I’ve heard that she’s unhappy and has contacted WG about positions here.

Part of me feels bad for her, but part of me is pointing and saying, “Ha ha!” The Marvin part of me apparently.

I got back pretty early, around 9. Later MB and I saw a midnight movie, the New York premiere of Chocolate. It was really good! I mean, the plot was sorta dumb, but it was awesome to see a woman kick ass repeatedly. As usual, the hipster audience was annoying, laughing at unfunny parts.

Saturday we kept missing things. We were all set to go to ComicCon, but the tickets were sold out! They had been available the night before. Should have gotten them online. Then that night we were all set to see Coraline, but when we got to the theater, it was sold out. :( MB didn’t feel like seeing anything else so we took advantage of the nice night and walked home.

Sunday was all about school. Last week I was really good and finished all my homework for Sunday by Friday so I could do my reading for Monday over the weekend. In class on Sunday, we went over our library profiles. I picked my company’s digital library (there is no physical one here in New York, only at another site), and he didn’t get that. He said, “You want to do this?” I don’t really care what library I do, but I’m annoyed that I put in all that work that I now have to do over.

He didn’t come out and say, “Don’t do a digital library,” but I think that’s his feeling, though there are just as many collection management issues with online resources. So I guess I’ll switch to something else.

Tonight’s class should be pretty mellow. The management reading feels familiar so far. I guess I’ve been living management for the past several years. But it’s helpful to see it written in formal terms, and how it can be applied to libraries.

Having three classes is tough! With two I could totally slack and go for days without doing any work. Now I’m doing homework basically every day. But it’ll be over in a few months.

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05
Jan 09

Oy, back at work

I didn’t even take any vacation and it’s still tough to come back after the holidays. Two dead weeks and two four-day weekends in a row will do that to you.

The rest of our weekend was pretty mellow. MB practiced music, I wrote and read, and we bought a toaster oven. Or attempted to because after hauling it back from Bed, Bath, and Beyond, we found that the grill was missing. That’s helpful! Yesterday MB exchanged it and we tested it out: open-faced grilled cheese sandwiches. . .with bacon. Yup, I’m on a diet.

This weekend ES came down to NJ at the last minute. Yesterday I hopped the train down for the day, the 9:14 AM, which was very peaceful. Oh yeah, I was finally able to update my iPod. Like a dope I had put my iTunes library on my old work computer, which was left behind with my old position. I didn’t think there was any way to copy what was on my iPod into a new library, but MB showed me some software that could do that.

So yesterday on the train I had my iPod with some new MIA, the soundtrack from the movie, The Wackness, and some music I stole from MB, including Lykke Li and Elbow, whom I had never heard of but apparently had the album of the year.

ES picked me up from the train station, and we headed out to AY’s, who was nice enough to make us brunch. We had a lovely spread of eggs, ham, cheese, veggies, and some croissants ES and I picked up. And of course coffee!

Then we gabbed and gabbed and gabbed, and before we knew it we were hungry all over again.

We decided to drive into Princeton and walk around a bit. But it was so cold, we didn’t last very long before ducking into a restaurant and eating some yummy pizza for a late lunch. Then by the time we came out, everything was closed. That’s Princeton for ya!

I was going to take the 5:43 train back, but we ended up having too much fun taking crazy Photobooth pictures with ES’s Mac. It’s amazing how the distorted photos can crack us up again and again. I missed the 5:43 but it was no biggie since there was a 6:14, which gave ES and me time to hang out more, and for her – the sweetie! – to run to to the store and get me a ginger ale since I had somehow managed to get car sick on the very short ride from AY’s to the station.

Got back home around 8. MB and I just hung out watching The Thing, which was quite entertaining. The other night we watched Heavy Metal, which was also entertaining as well as ridiculous. I can see why MB liked it as a kid!

Last night I couldn’t sleep till about 2. I am so tired! But I still managed to get a short workout in at lunchtime.

family / friends / holidays / photography / weekends — 5 Comments
01
Dec 08

The long-ass weekend

Busy but fun.

Thursday
MB and I managed to get out of the house by 12:30 (that boy sleeps late but gets ready fast). For some reason I thought traveling on Thanksgiving Day wouldn’t be as bad, but Penn Station was still a madhouse! I guess Wednesday was worse, but there was still a line waiting to buy tickets all the way across the station. Luckily it moved pretty quickly.

The ride overall was fine. We were able to find two seats together and both had iPods to tune out annoying conversation. The only thing was people kept standing in the aisle instead of moving up a few cars and sitting their asses down. Got to NJ around 3:30 and spent the rest of the day eating: a light, late lunch, then Mongolian hotpot for dinner, then the apple pie we brought for dessert.

MB also spent most of the time helping my parents download these Korean soap operas. For years they’ve had dial-up but just got cable expressly for this purpose. Downloading the videos wasn’t bad, but my mom prefers to watch them on TV, so that involves burning the videos to DVD, which took HOURS AND HOURS. They had to be converted to something, then something else, then the actual burning. MB and my dad explained the whole process to my mother again and again, but she just kept asking, “Is it burning? Is it burning?”

By the next day, they were finally able to get a couple of DVDs done, but because of some weird glitch, the files were humungous so only one episode was able to fit on a single disc. MB and my brother both recommend that my parents get a Mac Mini, which we will probably get them for Christmas.

I tried to keep that a surprise. My dad kept saying he wanted to get the Mac, and I kept saying, “We’ll take care of it,” and my mother kept saying: “But it’s $800! $800!! $800!!!” Finally I had to come out and say, “WE WILL BUY IT FOR YOU FOR CHRISTMAS!” Jeez.

MB also spent some time fixing up my dad’s computer, removing files and programs he doesn’t need so hopefully it will run faster now.

Friday
More eating, lounging around, and messing with the computer. During the day, if my parents don’t have mah-jongg or karaoke plans, they watch game shows. There are so many! I’ve never really watched Deal or No Deal before, and got totally sucked in. The whole time I kept saying, “This is so dumb!” and yet I couldn’t stop watching.

We ended up leaving after dinner since MB was so determined to help my parents with their videos. They were EXTREMELY appreciative, and happy that we had stayed another meal.

We took a 7:15 train back, and although there were quite a few people, it was pretty quiet. I think everyone was tired.

At home we just lazed around, watching TV shows on Hulu.com. I still managed to stay up till 2, and MB till 4, which he has been doing since school let out.

Saturday
I wanted to get a bunch of stuff done before ES came into town, but I didn’t get up till 11. Luckily she came in a little later than planned so I had time to do laundry and clean the bathroom, yay!

ES was staying YP’s. After she got in, we hung out for a bit before ES and I headed over to my neck of the woods. She saw our place, MB demonstrated some music stuff as he does for all our guests, and we grabbed something to eat at our favorite Italian place.

Afterwards ES, YP, and I went to the movies (MB begged off, wanting to practice). We had wanted to see Australia or Bolt, but they were sold out. So we ended up seeing Quantum of Solace. It was pretty good – non-stop action – and of course Daniel Craig was sexy. But I thought the Bond girl was dull and couldn’t stop wondering what the heck “quantum of solace” meant (they never explain it or even talk about it, I think).

After the movie, we went over to YP’s and had some wine. Later MB came over too, needing a break from practicing. We had fun, yakking and laughing.

Sunday
Saturday was another late night, but Sunday I was up by 9 for our photo expedition. Unfortunately the weather was awful – cold, rainy, and windy. I brought an umbrella but no gloves (duh) and my brand new boots, I soon found out, were not waterproof.

Still, after breakfast, we sludged through the day (the theme was “LES” or Lower East Side), taking pictures when we were able to pry our frozen hands out of our pockets. We lasted about an hour before needing to head back inside. We chose Teany, which I pass all the time and have never tried.

I had a chai latte, which was delicious and gave me a total boost. I thought I didn’t like chai, but this Indian restaurant MB and I sometimes goes to serves it at the end of the meal, and I decided I liked it. The first chai I ever tried was from Starbuck’s, probably not a good benchmark.

YP had had enough wet, cold, picture-taking by then so we walked back to his area, and caught the train near his place to the Canstruction exhibit at the World Financial Center. By then ES and I had had enough of the weather too, and so were content to hang out there for the rest of the afternoon. In addition to the exhibit, there were a few stores open, and we both did some shopping. ES got some stuff for her parents, and I got a few shirts for MB.

When we were almost done with the exhibit, we both realized we were starving and had some sushi in the food court. It looked better than it tasted, but it was good enough.

Finally it was time to head back to YP’s so ES could pick up her stuff before heading out to Penn Station. She took the train there, and I walked home through the terrible, terrible weather. It was so windy and raining so hard! I was completely soaked and freezing by the time I got home.

I did not want to go out again so MB was sweet enough to run to the grocery store to pick up stuff for dinner. We had what we had Wednesday night again: bbq chicken, stuffing, and string beans. Yum!

Today
It was really hard getting up this morning, and difficult to focus on any actual work. And of course the weather today is just gorgeous! Almost 50 degrees, sunny, and NOT raining. Oh well.

MUST go to the gym.

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20
Nov 08

How did a whole week pass since my last post?

Lazy, I guess.

Last weekend
I had a fun time with my brother. I took Friday off and met up with D. at his hotel. His room was nice! The regular rooms are supposed to be shoebox size, but he got an upgrade and it was totally decent, big enough for two people. It was also very clean – hard wood floors, white bedding, very white bathroom. Quite Japanese in a way. The downstairs was all hip.

We had lunch at Sarabeth’s before walking up to The Whitney, which I haven’t been to in a long time. The only special exhibit they had was on Calder, which was pretty cool but too crowded. MB was supposed to meet us, but he got a late start and didn’t show up till we were almost done. But of course my brother and I had totally rushed through so it was good to look at the exhibits again.

Afterwards we had an early dinner – Italian – then went back downtown to show D. our place and neighborhood. We also got some drinks. I didn’t get quite so plastered this time. Nursed one vodka tonic and was fine.

The next day D. and I had lunch near his hotel. We picked a random Japanese place – well, not that random, he Yelped it first – and it was really good! It seemed more authentic than other places, and had a lot of good noodle choices. I got a curry noodle bowl with duck. It was yummy! In fact, it makes me hungry right now. After lunch we walked around a little before D. had to run off to get ready for his friend’s wedding.

Sunday I mostly worked on the usability report that was due for Information Technologies. It wasn’t difficult, just tedious. I kept getting bored and wasting time. But I got it done.

This week
Very quiet at work, as it has been for a while, though that might not last long. Now that my boss is fully transitioning to his new position, a lot of the communication-related stuff he did will fall into my lap, which is good because it means I’ll be needed.

Info Tech class on Tuesday sucked. It was really boring, then stressed me out because it made me realize how much work needed to be done (or redone) on our website. In fact, I woke up an hour before my usual wake up time on Wednesday, thinking about it. But it was good because I got a shit ton done (at work, haha). Now I *think* we’re in good shape. Or at least there’s nothing else I can do as webmaster before my group turns in their stuff to me.

Last night I got my hair cut, yay! It was driving me crazy being all mullet-like (I exaggerate, but it felt like a mullet). I asked Yoli to make the back very short but leave the top longer. Now I love my hair! It’s rather like Twiggy’s.

Afterwards I shopped a little and ended up buying these short Born boots for $90 (25% off). That makes five pairs of boots now. I don’t know what’s the matter with me. I keep trying to find comfortable boots but haven’t had much luck. I have a brown pair from Clark’s with heels that are too high, a black pair with high heels, a black pair from Clark’s that are too narrow (maybe I should stop buying boots from Clark’s), and an old winter pair.

I think I can get rid of the old winter pair, which I’ve had for years. And hopefully these new ones will be comfortable and sturdy enough fro walking around the city, which MB and I do A LOT. I’ve been wearing my Keds, which are great, but I want more wintery ones. I tested the new boots out last night and they seem comfy. Time will tell.

Tonight I have my other class, which is relaxed if boring. And I’m glad it’s not raining! It rained all last week, which made traveling the city a pain.

This weekend I need to do my site visit for Info Tech. I picked the New Museum, which should have a lot of interesting technology. Although it’s not due till 12/2, I’ll be glad to get it out of the way before Thanksgiving weekend, which will be busy between going to the ‘rents’ and seeing friends (yay!).

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27
Oct 08

No clever introduction. Launching right into a weekend recap.

No clever title either, apparently.

Friday
Friday night MB and I went to that jazz/house/disco band performance. It was pretty fun and a lot less of a pain than seeing his classmate perform heavy metal Wednesday night. We had time to eat dinner, and even dessert. And we did *not* have to wait outside.

The music was fun but a lot of the audience was annoying. It seemed to be mostly gay men and straight women. We were sitting at a table against the wall, and when we went to the bathroom, had to step over a lot of people. When I did, these women just stared at me. Like, what? Is this a private party or something? Then when MB did, one of the women said loudly to her friend, “People should really say excuse me when they walk by!” Oh gee, maybe people shouldn’t sit with their legs all splayed out in a very crowded club right in front of the bathroom.

Then there was one woman who seemed to be swimming in a sea of gay men. She had on this annoying silver scarf, and kept dancing right up to the tiny stage, putting a thumbs up or clapping like a robot right in the lead singer’s face. Then she’d turn around and blow kisses at one of her gays sitting at the table behind her, and do horrible vogue-wannabe movements with her arms. Then suddenly stop stock still and start Blackberrying madly. Then start dancing crazily again, over and over.

I wanted to kill her.

At least the music was fun.

Saturday
Exhausting overall. At about 1 I went to pick up my parents from Penn Station. From there we hopped the subway to the theater. Chicago’s been out FOREVER, but there were still a zillion people waiting to get in.

This is the fourth time I’ve seen this show. The first was many years ago in Boston with ES. Then I saw it through work for free, and then I think ES and I saw it again because we got cheap tickets. All the performances, including this weekend’s, were good, but the best had to be the time both Bebe Neuwirth and Ann Reinking were in it (I think that was the time through work).

This performance was very good. We had great seats – orchestra right – and most importantly, my parents really enjoyed it, my dad in particular. He kept saying how “professional” everyone was. Plus we were so close we could see the sweat glistening on the dancers’ bodies, including the amazing pecs of this one guy. *squeeze*

After the show we headed over to the restaurant, where MB would meet us, having decided to forego the musical portion of the day. It was a challenge because suddenly it was all rainy and windy. And my parents walked really slowly. I tried really hard to slow down, but they would still end up way behind me.

I wanted to take my parents somewhere other than Asian food so I picked Kellari Taverna, this Greek place I *think* I went to through work. The food was pretty good. For appetizers we had fried octopus in this delicious vinegary sauce, and fried zucchini and eggplant “chips.” Then we just got a couple of pounds of fish – I forget which ones, I let MB do the choosing – and a couple of sides, potatoes and green beans. For dessert we shared a chocolate souffle, which was incredible.

The food was good, but a little overpriced. Still I was happy to treat my parents. Most people have big banquets when they turn 70, and spend thousands of dollars. But my dad wanted something low-key.

After dinner we took my parents back to Penn Station, made sure they knew what train to look out for, and headed home.

Although I was pooped it was still early, not even 9. We thought about going to see the midnight showing of Monty Python’s Holy Grail, but then MB noticed that Swedish vampire movie we’ve been wanting to see was out.

It was GOOD. The vampire stuff was very subtle, and we noticed that they didn’t show a lot of violence, which I think is how it is with lot of European films. For instance, a guy would be slitting another guy’s throat, and they’d only show the guy from behind, but it was just as menacing and disturbing.

The people behind us were, guess what, ANNOYING. They kept making loud, snarky comments all during the previews. Now I know the previews aren’t the movie, but they are like mini movies so everyone should shut the fuck up. Then when the actual movie started, which it did so silently, with no music, against a scene of softly falling snow against a dark sky, the girl behind us goes, “It’s so QUIET.” Really? Do you think it’s cuz YOU’RE IN A MOVIE? Luckily they all shut up once the film started.

Sunday
I was semi-productive in the morning, getting a load of laundry done. That afternoon I headed out to meet YP to see The Secret Life of Bees. I actually had no idea what the movie was about. It wasn’t bad, of the Fried Green Tomatoes/Steel Magnolias type. Some melodrama, some stereotypes, and lots of crying.

At home I found that MB had bought another guitar (!!!). That makes four. Oh well, he really loves it and a got a good deal.

After getting some food – noodles at the Lower East Side Noodle Bar – we had a quiet evening in. There was a new It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia on Hulu (that show is frigging hilarious), plus we watched the pilot episode of Sons of Anarchy (enh) and an old Family Guy.

~ ~ ~

In other news, I decided to start a movie blog, in addition to my book blog, to keep track of all the movies I see. I may or may not add very short reviews, or at least one word ratings (eg, Sucked, Just Okay, Pretty Good, Awesome). At the very least, the movie posters are cool to roll through.

friends / library / rant and/or rave / weekends — 2 Comments
07
Oct 08

Venting, and an update

I hate my information technologies class.

We have a group assignment due today, basically a group web page. It doesn’t have to be 100% complete but it does need to be in web format.

No problem – it took me less than an hour to do it. But that’s the problem: it took ME, by myself, less than an hour to do it.

I’m no martyr. I mean, I volunteered to be “webmaster,” mostly by default, but the way this class is being taught makes no sense whatsoever. Instead of practicing HTML in class, the professor lectures about it and we read about it, but we never actually do it.

That’s all well and good as an introduction, but our assignments, ie what we get GRADED on, are web pages! For me it’s no problem. Our page is really simple and I do simple HTML for my job. But for those who have never done it before, all they’ll do is take what I’ve created and change the text. So unless they work really hard on their own outside of class, they’ll probably never learn to do even simple HTML coding.

Then again, maybe they will. In addition to the group page, we all have individual pages that link to pages that house our assignments. I’ve created the basic templates and now they need to go in and replace the verbiage, which forces you to try to understand what’s going on with the code. I’m definitely not going to do it for other people. They need to do it themselves.

You know what else gets my goat? Last night we were supposed to meet as a group to tie up loose ends before today’s presentation of our page. Only 3, including me, out of 6 showed up. One I knew couldn’t make it, though she was totally lame with her last minute excuse of, “Oh, I thought I could get out of class but I can’t – I owe everyone ice cream!!!” Yeah cuz ice cream’s gonna get the work done. One had a legitimate excuse of being stuck in traffic and was very apologetic. One just “forgot.”

*Sigh.* I don’t know why professors think group assignements are a good idea, especially for those of us who have been working. I mean, hello, I’ve worked in a “team” for a good 15 years, I don’t need a refresher.

My other class is a little boring, but at least I feel like I’m learning. Who knew there was such a process around helping people with their research questions?

For my last two semesters, I’m taking all traditional library courses. No more of this tech bullshit that I can learn on the job or read out of a book, or that I already know just from playing around on the web.

~ ~ ~

This weekend we thought we didn’t have anything planned, aside from a Margaret Cho show with YP and some of his friends on Saturday, but it ended up busy anyway.

MB forgot one of his friends was in town so at the last minute on Saturday, we ended up having lunch with him and his girlfriend, then taking them around SoHo and the West Village. It was fun. Both friend and girlfriend were really nice with good senses of humor. (You’d think that’d be more common but it’s not.)

After that we had just about an hour before meeting YP and his friend for Korean dinner. On that very day there was the first ever Korean Day Parade and Festival, so it was madness in Koreatown. The restaurant YP’s friend, who’s Korean, originally picked had a super long wait. Luckily she was able to find another one with no wait at all.

The food was good. Though it’s hard to go wrong with bibimbap and spicy tofu soup.

Margaret Cho was performing for one night at Radio City so the sidewalk outside was craziness! But once we sat, we noticed lots of empty seats. Weird. As always, she was hilarious. Lots of sex talk with a dash of mother impressions. Plus this guy was a guest. You know I’d never heard of that “shoes” video till I went to another one of Margaret Cho’s shows last year.

It wasn’t even 10 by the time we got out, so MB and I had energy to see a midnight showing of Raiders of the Lost Ark. I haven’t seen that quite as many times as other movies that have played at that theater (eg, The Shining, Spirited Away) so it was really fun. The special effects seem so cheesy compared to now. And Harrison Ford was hot! I’d forgotten.

Sunday was a practicing music day for MB and a shopping day for me. I need pants! but didn’t have any luck. I did manage to buy some other stuff I needed, including a shower curtain. At home I took the opportunity of a temporarily shower free tub to clean the bathroom. Yay, clean bathroom!

That night I finally got my schoolwork organized and realized that I’ve fallen behind in my reading. But now I’m all caught up. This upcoming weekend will be all about homework. I have assignments due Tuesday and Thursday.

It’s getting chillier and chillier. Yesterday I bought some sweaters from Barami, buy one get one free. But the turtlenecks, which I didn’t try on at the store, threaten to choke me so I need to exchange them for regular sweaters. Since moving and getting rid of old stuff, I feel like I have practically no clothes.

friends / rant and/or rave / weekends — 2 Comments
29
Sep 08

Back from DC

And lounging with the morning off.

First off, I wasn’t home for more than an hour last night before I got two mosquito bites. Wtf? Where do they come from? Don’t the buggers realize it’s fall?

Last week I tried returning the too-small, too-funeral-y dress to the little boutique on Avenue B. I knew there was a chance they’d only do store credit, but that was fine by me. What I wasn’t expecting was that they only did exchanges, and I’d pretty much have to pick the new item right then and there.

Of course I wanted to get something of the same value, preferably two on sale items. But there was nothing I loved. The owner of the store was there and she helped me again with choices. I was trying on a couple of things when she called out, “How about that gray sweater dress on the mannequin?” I’ve never worn a sweater dress and was hesitant, but said sure why not.

It was totally adorable, very soft and warm. “It’s cashmere,” the owner said, and she the other girl there agreed that it looked cute on me (they were not vocal about the other things I had tried on).

I agreed. The only problem? It was another $100.

Who goes to return a $190 dress to come back with a $300 dress? Me, that’s who.

I didn’t feel any buyer’s remorse, funnily enough, I guess because I really love the dress and can picture myself wearing it often.

We left for DC Saturday afternoon, and it was pretty much a comedy of errors. We rushed out right before to go to the post office, and when we came back, I was dripping with sweat and changed my whole outfit. Okay, already exhausted. It was raining and disgusting out, but we managed to snag a cab, but as we were walking into the station, MB held up his hands and said, “Oh no!”

“What?” I said.

“My suit!” he cried. He had managed to remember all the musical stuff he wanted to practice – travel guitar, recorder, books – but forgot his suit for the wedding.

We went into Border’s to find me a place to wait with our stuff while he’d race back downtown. Unfortunately the cafe was full so I said let’s just go into the station, but as we were going back down on the escalator, I saw an empty bench.

“Let’s go back up,” MB said.

Now. In the movies and TV, people go back up going-down escalators all the time. They seem to do it with little trouble. Well, lemme tell you: it’s HARD. Of course as you’re walking up, the escalator is moving down at the same or faster pace, so you’re basically staying in one place. So genius me figures, “Oh I just need to go faster, even with this heavy backpack!” And what do you think happens when you try to race up a descending escalator with a heavy backpack? You trip and fall.

I thought I was fine, just banged my knee, but then my knee started bleeding through my pants. “I’m so sorry,” MB kept saying over and over. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

I didn’t know what I was thinking, convinced that I’d be able to go up a down escalator.

In the end it wasn’t a big deal. I was able to change my pants and slap on a bandage (luckily I was stocked up), and while we missed our train, we hopped on the next one for just $30 more each, and with MB’s suit in tow.

We got in around 7:30. Our hotel was very nice, but I didn’t pick such a good location. When I was first planning this trip, I thought we’d have time to tool around the city, and heard this hotel was good because it was nice and also near the metro. True on both counts, but we didn’t have time to do any sightseeing and so it was pointless to be at a place not close to either Union Station or the wedding site. Ah well. At least it was a reasonable price and there were tons of restaurants nearby.

We ate a good but overpriced Italian dinner, took a little walk, then were in for the evening. MB needed to practice and study, and I was just pooped and looking forward to lots of TV.

And also a nice cup of tea. (I know: I sound 80.) The hotel website said all the rooms had coffee makers. Ours did not. We looked and looked, and couldn’t find one. I went down to see if I could get tea to go from the bar, but they wouldn’t sell it to me. “We don’t want people walking around holding hot beverages,” the bartender told me, not unkindly.

So I mentioned the missing coffee maker to the concierge. He said it should be under the TV. Looked again. No coffee maker. I called housekeeping.

“It should be under the TV,” she said.

“I looked,” I said calmly. “It’s not.”

“I’ll send one right up.”

Tick tick tick. Forty five minutes. I called housekeeping again.

“It should be under the TV,” I was told once again.

“It’s not,” I said, through gritted teeth.

“I’ll send one right up.”

“Well, I called 45 minutes ago.”

“I just got here, ma’am.”

How is that my problem?

At this point, MB said screw it and ordered a tea tray plus fruit via room service, which actually turned out to be very nice. A whole slew of gourmet teas, beautiful fruit with tasty walnut cake. Luckily he did, because when they finally brought the damned coffee maker, that was all they brought.

Coffee maker. No coffee, no cups, no tea.

Am I crazy or don’t hotel rooms come with the whole shebang when there’s a coffee maker? Coffee filters, cups, cream and sugar, tea?

Lame asses.

Anyway, the wedding was very nice. The ceremony was in a lovely, simple chapel. You could tell that it was quite old. The reception was at a hotel/college campus nearby, and I realized we should have just stayed there. But someone I talked to said it was sort of noisy with rowdy college kids. We all had a great time dancing and SG’s son is just adorable. I kept wanting to squeeze his cheeks.

Afterwards we ended up back at Union Station hours before our train at 8:45. So we decided to hop on an earlier one, the 6:20. Waiting to get on the train, there seemed to be a million people, but once we were seated, it was pretty relaxing. I actually fell asleep.

Today I’m glad to have just half a day at work. Last week was insanely quiet. My boss just got promoted to a different position – I’m happy for him but sad to be losing him as a boss. He was really great. But it will be a few to several months before someone new comes in.

friends / spa / weekends — 4 Comments
02
Sep 08

Last summer weekend

Well, not officially. Officially that’s the weekend of 9/26, but Labor Day always feels a close to summer.

Friday
After a lazy afternoon, we saw Trouble the Water, a documentary about Hurrican Katrina. It was really good. The main part were these “home movies” taken by a woman who was trying to break into the music business but in the meantime lived with her husband in a very poor part of New Orleans.

She decided to film the storm coming, and what started as her talking to neighbors – most didn’t have cars and couldn’t afford to pay for a train or a plain, and so without free transportation were literally stuck – quickly escalted into her and her husband climbing up to their attic, and not a full attic mind you, but basically slats, as the water rose higher and higher, eventually filling their house, and getting their neighbors without attics up there as well, including a couple of elderly ladies who had trouble walking. Eventually a random guy in the neighborhood helped bring every single person over, a few he carried on his back, to a house that was on higher ground.

Later the narrator’s husband led about 100 people over to the naval base, which was in the process of being shut down and so there were about 200 empty rooms. But the naval officers wouldn’t let the people in. In fact they drew their weapons.

Interspersed with the home movies were news clips like the FEMA guy saying they were working as fast as the could, and Bush making excuses for why he wouldn’t let the Louisiana National Guard come home to help. Those juxtaposed with all of those people stuck in the city, calling 911 and being told that they were basically SOL (the police had long skeedaddled), prisoners stuck in their jail cells without food or water, was really disturbing.

The only downside was that the jerky home movies totally gave me motion sickness. The woman who took that footage was there to answer questions afterwards, but I felt so queasy I needed to leave.

Saturday
That morning was my monthly photo expediation with YP. This month’s theme, Chinatown, which involved just sort of wandering around the area taking random pictures. I did get some good ones though, I think.

I was a little movied out that day so instead MB and I got massages at this Chinese place. (We had wanted to do it last weekend but I wasn’t feeling well.) I was a little nervous because tui-na massage is nothing like the ones you get in hoity toity spas. The most comparable is a deep tissue massage. I had one that was pretty painful at the time, but totally worth it afterwards. But I told the receptionist it was my first time, and so she asked my masseuse to go a little gentler on me.

She did at first, but as I got more used to it, she put more strength into the massage, and there were definitely times I had to do some deep breathing to work through the pain. What was cool was she could tell which were my problem areas (neck, upper back, arms, from mousing and carrying a too heavy bag on one shoulder) and concentrated on those. Also apparently my calves were tight (I had no idea) so she worked on those, as well as did this heel banging thing which was startling but actually felt really good.

MB enjoyed his session as well. He can take the pain, but I did hear some deep breathing from his side of the curtain too.

Afterwards my upper back and arms were quite sore, but in a good way, as though I had exercised hard. The next day I was still a little achy, but by Monday I was pretty much all better. This is something we might do once a month or so.

Sunday
I wanted a museum fix sometime over the weekend, and so Sunday we got up early to hit the Met before it got too crowded. Afterwards we thought we could hang out in Central Park so MB brought his ukulele. But get this: no musical instruments of any kind are allowed at the Met. Hunh? Why? Before we even got inside this guard stopped us. He was apologetic about it, but I still don’t get it. If MB had put the uke in a non-uke shaped bag, he probably would have been able to bring it in.

Our choices were to schelp all the way back home or just go to the Park. We chose the latter since the next day we needed to come back uptown anyway and the museum would be open then too.

Hanging out the Park turned out to be just lovely. We walked around a bit, then found a peaceful out of the way bench. MB played his uke and some people looked but most just kept going. It was funny: little kids would always stop and stare. MB thought it was because the uke is kid-sized. The area we were in was so nice, but then this huge bee started attacking us and we had to leave.

MB also played as we walked around, like a wandering troubador, before we sat at Bethesda Fountain for a bit, roasting in the sun, and then finally finding another quiet space in the band shell. We were left mostly in peace except for this nutty guy sitting near us. At first he was just writing, but then he said to MB, “I heard gord in those strings.”

“Sorry?” MB said.

“I hear gord in those strings.”

“Gord? Who’s gord?”

He held up his hands. “Our lord above” – something something – “Hare Krishna.”

Great.

Otherwise it was fun sitting there relaxing and people watching while MB played. A few people were roller blading, and there was one woman who was really good, like a figure skater. Also she totally looked like a guy. MB thought so too.

That night we were back in movie mode and finally watched Tropic Thunder. It was really hilarious, much funnier than I expected.

Monday
We met up with SB, her husband, and little Ellie for lunch. Sunday was Ellie’s birthday so I wanted to drop off a gift (kid-sized backpack and two T-shirts). It was fun since we haven’t seen each other in a while and Ellie is always a blast.

Afterwards we all went over to the Met, Ellie and family for her art class, and MB and I to check on the superheroes exhibit. It was fun but just okay. Costumes from movies, and avant garde interpretations. I’m glad it was free with general admission (which for me with my company ID was free anyway). After that we just wandered around, trying to find the less crowded parts.

Then it was relaxing evening in. We picked up groceries (along with all the returning-from-Labor-Day-weekend Manhattanites) and MB cooked.

Needless to say I am unmotivated this morning. And not looking forward to school tonight. Ah well. I’ll get used to it soon enough.

friends — 4 Comments
28
Aug 08

Last Contact

So I have this friend, or former friend I should say. Let’s call her SL.

SL and I met in college, my senior year, her sophomore year. We were in the same Chinese class and hit it off immediately. We had similar senses of humor and just got along really well. Plus I liked that she was completely guileless.

After college we continued to be friends. While she was still in school, I’d come visit her, and after she graduated, she’d visit me in Boston quite often. She met my other friends and got along well with them.

We’ve traveled together to Amsterdam, Brussels, and Paris; she was one of my bridesmaids; and she was there for me when all the adultery shit went down with my ex. But then back in the fall of 2005, a few months after I moved into the city, she just stopped talking to me.

I guess she was already becoming distant by then. We both had places in the city, we were both single, but she never wanted to hang out on the weekends. She’d prefer to go to her parents’ in Brooklyn. More than once we had plans and she ditched me, preferring to hang out with her folks.

She was in an improv group, and that October I was supposed to go to one of her shows. At the last minute, I couldn’t and left her a message apologizing, and followed up with another message to see how it went.

I never heard from her.

I let a couple of weeks go by, then sent her another message with my new cell phone number.

No response.

Was she that annoyed with me for not going to her show? Some people might be, but she wasn’t that kind of person. I think I emailed her a couple more times after that, but never got any answer.

It was very weird.

What’s even weirder is that in 2007, her sister called me on my new cell phone number. I knew her sister because she temped at my company and had called me before. I was in the car with my parents, and she said, “Is this a good time to talk?” I hesitated, and she said, “I’ll call you back later.”

I was scared to death that something happened with SL. But all it turned out to be was that her sister needed some favor. I asked her how SL was, and she said, “She’s fine,” sort of dismissively. I said, “You know I haven’t heard from her in forever.”

“Really?” she said, sounding surprised.

Weird weird weird.

I still think about SL regularly, partly because I’m baffled about how things turned out and also because I miss her friendship. So yesterday on a whim I sent her an email as a sort of last ditch effort to get back in touch with her. I told her how surprised and saddened I was with the way our friendship ended, and that maybe I had done something alienate her. I gave her a very quick update about recent events in my life, and wished her well.

Knowing SL, I will probably never hear from her, but at least I wanted to try.

friends / photography / TV / weekends / work / writing — 3 Comments
10
Aug 08

The weekend, in media res

So I feel a little pretentious today.

It’s been a semi-productive weekend. I’m not getting done everything I want, but I’m accomplishing some stuff.

Friday I ended up working a full day. I’m on this project that was supposed to be done that day, but of course I got a zillion last minute changes, so it’s not going out till Monday. Still, I had to get a polished draft done for the other people on the project for a call early Monday morning.

I don’t mind actually. Staying till 5:15 on a Friday is better than working on a Sunday, though I’ll still have to get in super early tomorrow just in case there are additional changes (which I’m sure there are). Plus it’s work I like (writing and organizing information in a presentable way), and quite frankly work I’d have done as a coordinator, which is the highest level administrative assistant. But if they want to pay me manager salary for coordinator-level work, so be it! :)

That night I went to Home Depot to find a mosquito repeller. Online I had seen a small, non-flame lantern, but the Home Depot I went to unfortunately didn’t have it. Next was Bed, Bath, and Beyond for a rice cooker. I had one for many years, but got rid of it when I moved in with MB. There were a lot of choices at BB&B, including fancy ones that could steam veggies as well. But I just went for something basic for $19.99. That BB&B is on the same street as this little Korean place I like, so I got some bibimbap for takeout, then hopped a cab home.

MB basically texted me all night. He kept seeing T-shirts and signs he thought were funny (though truthfully I didn’t get a few of them). To my delight, I discovered that some full episodes of Ghosthunters are available online, and texted him that. His reaction? Oh god. Watching a couple of shows, I realized how much I miss TV. It’s good company sometimes. But I’m still glad we don’t have one. God knows I waste enough time just surfing the web.

Saturday morning I was wide awake at 7:30. What the – ? That’s my weekday wake up time, and I always have a very difficult time getting up. I spent the morning writing and looking my blogroll and Gawker and other news. Then I headed over to YP’s to help him with some pictures for flyers for his upcoming gigs.

He had a very involved plan, which included photoshopping a picture of himself walking in front of a poster of himself, which also involved balloons and a green screen. Yeah, don’t ask. Also for some reason he wanted to take some of these pictures on his building’s roof. How to get to the roof? you might ask. By climbing stairs like normal people? Oh no.

He’s on the top floor and right now there’s scaffolding in front of his building, so he wanted us to go out on his rusty, rickety-ass fire escape, step over the railing, grab onto the scaffolding, walk up this metal pole that was like a tightrope at an angle, grab hold of this ladder, and climb up onto the roof.

Dude, are you fucking crazy?

YP tried to convince me that it’d be okay. “See,” he said, “the fire escape is nice and sturdy.” He rattled the railing, which promptly gave way.

“I hope you have a plan B,” I said, climbing back inside.

Plan B involved setting up the green screen (borrowed from his workplace) on various parts of the street on a very windy day. The poles, which were eight feet tall, kept falling over. Finally he had the brainstorm to throw the green screen over this fence, which worked pretty well.

As usual, while most people just walked by, one weirdo stopped to talk. He had a mullet and wore a T-shirt with the sleeves cut off.

“Do you guys have a card?” he said.

A card for what? He thought we were professional photographers. YP, friendly bastard that he is, started chatting with him, and of course he was a complete freak. It turned out he was supposedly pursuing stand-up comedy himself, though he had never done anything as involved as we were doing, gesturing at the balloons.

“Well, they’re just $12,” YP said. “A dollar a pop.” So to speak, haha.

“If I had $12,” Mullet Freak said, “it’d go to weed!”

Good luck with your career.

After our photo shoot, we got some Thai dinner and then saw Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2. I actually enjoyed it, though there were a couple of dumb plot points. I liked it better than the first one, which I could barely remember. I cried about every two seconds. And me with no tissues! By the end I was a complete mess.

I got home around 10:30, took a shower, and watched Ghosthunters, yay! I was tempted to watch a second one, but I was pretty tired by midnight and want to “save” a couple of episodes for tonight.

This morning I didn’t wake up till 10. I did, however, get in a good amount of writing, as well as catching up here, and now want to get out of the house and run a couple of errands. Luckily it’s so beautiful this weekend. I hate it when it’s sticky hot. Makes me want to stay inside all day.

Angela Tung Oversharing on the internet since 2005.